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Everything posted by Matt Kidd

Hi there,
Many years ago now I sold my first tools - BD Rages - to someone on this site. Who sells their first tools?! Big mistake! Regretted it since. Got a pair to sell me?
In Vancouver BC.
Thanks,
-Matt

Nostalgia for sure, maybe weird... but hey I have the luxury to indulge the idiosyncrasy so why not? I let mine go for cheap to a college kid, and threw in my old Grivel Rambos which I am sort of regretting also. They got someone out climbing so I guess that's good.
Did you have the old black prophets or something? Those were rad a the time!

We found 8 pitches of WI near the Sumallo cirque. Better than expected for sure. Will write it up when I have a sec. Haven't heard of stuff in that drainage and there was quite a bit to do that got left undone. Wished we had more time.

Nice one. We were up the week before and were not that fast. We also had to dodge a pretty good barrage from one of the gullies approaching the black towers.
I think that the advise that you are giving is right on. For me the climbing on the black towers didn't seem much harder than any of the other scrambling - I think you are right to suggest that keeping close and unroped is probably the safest. We had the rope out simuling and it never got hard enough to warrant it. Ditto on the rock shoes.
For us after the one steep pitch on the little step and some scrambling we headed right on a ledge when we shouldn't have, and climbed three pitches of the worst rock I've ever climbed. After a pitch and a half it was obvious that the route was a scramble out to the left but by the time we worked it out it didn't seem worth trying to get over to it. I guess the moral for the route is if it is more than a low fifth scramble and isn't the little or big step you are off route. Thanks for the report.

Adam's a great guy. Went to highschool with him on Vancouver Island and had some early backcountry adventures. Lost touch for many years, and then ran into one another ice climbing in the Rockies! Left his Bach. Eng. to pursue his passion for Caving and the outdoor lifestyle. Not hard to see why.

I just received a nice gift of a credit with Harbour Air out of Vancouver. Ideas for float plane (no skis for the plane, I think) accessible interesting WI areas or Cool alpine routes? I'd prefer to use it this winter, or spring at the latest.
Thanks!

http://www.mobilitywod.com/2010/09/heel-cords-of-cheetah-achilles-well.html
IMHO the order of relevance: Episode 25, Episode 258, Episode 163, Episode 185.
I would suggest reading the blurbs before the vids as well.
Good luck!

Google translated Grivel response:
First you apologize for the delay in our response. Due to a misunderstanding between the parent and we, the French distributor for the delayed response because each of us thought the other had answered.
Your message has arrived home and every question deserves an answer, so it was not our intension to not give our opinion.
We deliver X-monster since 2005 and since then seven years the design has never changed. According to statistics tens of thousands of copies are used in all the mountains in the world with about 7000 in France with satisfaction and increasing success over the years.
Many amateur and professional climbers among them is a renowned monster-X use intensively.
Obviously with any ax there compromises.
An ice ax with an acute angle such that the axes of dry tooling are fine for the changes in hand but are very difficult to plant in the ice.
Instead an ax with a less marked will be very effective to plant but much less efficient for changes in hand or high hand position.
Using x-monster should be aware of these tradeoffs therefore accept a very comfortable offset handle, a great angle on the ice in the bottom position and on the other hand pay attention to his disadvantage because of course the higher up the hand with the along the handle and the ax tends to go out.
Over the handle is curved this effect is less important.
This explains the very curved handles on the axes of dry or positions with hands on the handle are very common in the upper position.
Ice in the most important thing is to plant the ice ax effectively, why a lower curve is needed. For information you can take the handle of the second X-monster at different heights, either with the index finger or two fingers or entire hands.
I hope that answers your questions.
On our part we would consider that you contact the proper response in any forum in which you put your message.
I remain at your disposal.
Sportivement,
Bruno ROBERT
Grivel France Chamonix
marile@grivel.com - www.grivelfrance.com
264, avenue Ravanel le Rouge
74400 CHAMONIX MONT BLANC
Tél : 04 50 53 07 43 - Fax : 04 50 53 27 51

Had fun on Photophobia on Saturday. We climbed it in 3.5 pitches but people are climbing it in more and fewer. Found it to be as described "Like Rock On, but harder and better". A good one to put on the list.
Topo Here